The heads of the two families were competing with each other with evil intentions, using a small matter of the children as an excuse. In the end, the women were too lazy to watch any more, so they took their children away. The two men were no longer willing to give up because they had no audience.
Ah Heng was left behind for dinner, but Zhao Jie secretly followed Ah Kang away. When the King of Qi found out, he would not tolerate his betrayal, so he sent guards to chase him across two streets and stop him. The two children had no choice but to sigh helplessly and go back home.
Xu Junying was in a very good mood. He was inexplicably happy to see the King of Qi was depressed. He had suffered a lot from him in the past years and was almost harmed by him. He should get back at him.
At dinner time, Meimei still let Akang sit next to her. The twins, Mei, Yi and Mei, were a bit picky about food and only ate for fun, so they let the nanny feed them first, and then they sat at the table to pretend to eat. They were also given a wooden bowl and a silver spoon, and it was up to them to eat or not, just to make the family happy.
Akang also disliked eating fish just like Xu Junying. Meimei carefully picked out the fish bones and coaxed Akang to eat half a bowl of fish meat. At the same time, she said to Meiyi, "You are his elder sister. Remember to pick out the fish bones for Akang in the future. Remind him to eat fish meat. Once he gets used to it, he will like it. Fish meat is very nutritious. Feed him to make him stronger!"
Meiyi glanced at A Kang and said, "Mother, let Meijuan do it!"
"Why can't you do it?"
Ah Kang said: "Mother, because my son is not hers, he is Sister Meijuan's subordinate!"
"You two kids!"
Meimei stroked her forehead and said, "You won't separate me from your father, will you?"
The beautiful wife smiled and said, "How can that be possible? Father and mother share it, and it cannot be divided!"
Xu Junying said, "Nonsense! Can brothers and sisters not share it if it is divided?"
"Father, we just play separately. For example, when my brother, the crown prince and the princes play football, they cheer for their own side. But when we go to Prince Qi's mansion to watch polo, we cheer for the prince together - we are family!"
Xu Junying looked at the beautiful family: "Who told you that our family and the Qi Wang Mansion are family? The Qi Wang Mansion is the Qi Wang Mansion, and our family is our family!"
"Alright, alright! You're like a child, the more you live, the more you go backwards!"
Meimei said impatiently: "When Heng'er marries Min'er in the future, won't they be a family?"
"Meimei, Min'er is marrying here alone and becoming a member of our family. We didn't ask her family to come here!"
Xu Junying rambled for a while, and before Meimei could lose her temper, he asked Meiyi: "I heard that the prince promised to give you a bird yesterday?"
Meiyi looked at Meijuan unhappily: "Who said that?"
The beauty shook her head: "It's not me!"
Ah Kang said, "I said it! I heard that poem. I asked my eldest cousin last night and he said it was a poem about mandarin ducks. The Fifth Prince recited a poem about mandarin ducks, so it's clear that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wanted to give Sister Meiyi a mandarin duck!"
The beauty was sweating. "Oh my god, it's embarrassing to have a subordinate like you! Who would give someone a mandarin duck?"
Ah Kang's eyes rolled: "That's a pair!"
"wrong!"
Ah Cheng, who was sitting opposite, said slowly, "Brother Jiu, have you ever heard of anyone sending live mandarin ducks?"
"No?" A Kang asked back.
Meimei also asked the same question in her heart. She was confused when she looked at her six-year-old son. Even she, as a mother, didn't know the answer to this question. The boy looked calm and seemed to know everything. Was it true? When he was three years old, he was spotted by a wandering Taoist priest in Ziyang Temple outside the city. The priest insisted on teaching him strange and tricky arts. Xu Junying agreed and personally sent him to the temple every month to live with the Taoist priest for half a month. At such a young age, he looked like a little monk. His words were very mature and could bluff people.
Ah Cheng put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "Mandarin ducks are auspicious creatures. Although people like them, it is not good to drive them away and catch them by force. As the saying goes, a forced melon is not sweet. Mandarin ducks that are forcibly caught and given away will lose their freedom and will no longer be a good omen! You must first have good flowers and good water to attract them to swim here willingly, only then can it be considered a real blessing... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can't just catch a pair of mandarin ducks and give them to Sister Meiyi. Besides, mandarin ducks are not rare, right? There are many of them in the ponds in our mansion garden!"
Meimei turned to stare at Xu Junying, but saw that he was trying hard to hold back a smile, with a strange look on his face. The couple exchanged glances:
Xu Junying: What's the matter
Meimei: Is this still a child? Give me back my son!
Xu Junying: Stop making trouble, this is the future military strategist and national advisor!
Meimei: I don’t want a military advisor or a national advisor, I want my innocent and lively son!
…
Ah Kang asked, "Then Cheng'er, what rare bird do you think the prince wants to give as a gift?"
"Oh, you still can't guess it? Both sisters know it!"
"I don't know about your brother, tell me!"
"What bird looks a bit like a mandarin duck?"
"A bit? More like it—teal, mallard, and all that. All ducks!"
"Oh! Brother Jiu! I'm talking about birds, please listen carefully!"
Ah Xue, who had been concentrating on eating, burst out laughing. Ah Kang said, "You are laughing, do you know what it is?"
"I don't know, it's just funny!"
"Ah!" The beautiful wife sighed, "I'm tired, let me give you a hint: what is that thing hanging in the corridor that can speak a few words?"
Ah Kang shouted, "Do parrots look like mandarin ducks?"
Ah Cheng said, "A little resemblance is enough. The Crown Prince forbade him to say anything, so the Fifth Prince had to use a poem about mandarin ducks to reveal it. We can probably think of it ourselves!"
"You, you guys are really geniuses! How could you think of... Well, it looks a bit like this! But are parrots rare? Which of our yards doesn't have a silly green parrot?"
Meiyi glared at him: "What if it was a parrot like you that could talk a lot? What if it was a parrot that could cry, laugh, curse, and say flattering words, with golden, black, blue, or purple hair, as big as a bucket or as small as a fingernail? Do you think it would be rare?"
Ah Kang thought about it and finally gave in: "Rare... I really want to see it!"
Meimei tried her best to remain dignified and had a hard time holding back her laughter. Xu Junying said coldly with a dark face, "Have you eaten enough? Pay your respects to your mother and leave immediately. Meiyi goes back to her room and recites and copies the female precepts three times. Ah Kang will patrol the mansion and walk through all the courtyards. After that, you must recite and copy the ancestral precepts ten times before you can go to bed!"
After saying this, he left the table and went to the study in the east courtyard.
Meimei winked at the children. A son should not mention his father's name. The little ancestors were discussing the parrot enthusiastically, not Junying, and he was the one who brought up the topic. But he just couldn't stand it and was too embarrassed to say it out loud, so he punished his children directly. What can you do with a father like this
Two days later, the prince really brought a colorful and gorgeous parrot to Meiyi. With Ah Heng's reminder, he cleverly said to Meiyi:
"This mynah bird is five years old. It was raised by a relative of a noble concubine in the palace and given to me. I didn't want to accept it at first, but I saw that it was very eloquent and good at speaking, and I thought you would like it. Since I can't be with you, it can chat with you, so I kept it for you. Take a look, isn't it very good?"
"Yeah! That's great!"
Meiyi teased the parrot with great joy: "Brother Prince, I would like the gift you gave me even if it is just a blade of grass or a stone!"
The prince looked at her and said, "Meiyi, will I give you a blade of grass or a stone? You are still young now, but one day, I will give you the most noble and best thing in the world!"
Meiyi's pink little face gradually turned red, even her ears were red. She bit her lip, glanced quickly at the prince, then turned and ran away.
The prince stood under the corridor and looked around. The courtyard was filled with palace guards, eunuchs and palace maids. It was like this when they whispered to each other in the past. Is the little girl feeling shy today
Ah Heng went to Qinghua Court to see his mother for something. Meijuan was obviously not in the room, and the maids in the corridor were cleared away. The prince hesitated for a long time and quickly followed Meiyi into the room.
In the embroidery room, he bumped into Meiyi who was rushing out. The prince hugged her, his heart pounding. He had liked this girl since he was a child. He had hugged her and carried her on his back when she was a child, and held her hand countless times, but this was the first time he had hugged her face to face and hugged her closely after growing up. The girl's soft body exuding pure fragrance leaned into his arms, chest against chest, and he could even feel her heart beating wildly. So close, the two hearts were pressed together and beating passionately, with a consistent rhythm. Could it be that the two hearts were also holding hands? I like this feeling so much! Meiyi's smooth skin pressed against his neck, her eyelashes blinked, and gently scratched his cheek, itchy, indescribably comfortable...
The voice of the personal guard came from the courtyard: "Your Highness, the time has come. Please return to the palace!"
Meiyi jumped up in shock, and the prince had to let her go. He cursed the guards for being nosy in his heart. Meiyi lowered her head and said in a trembling voice:
"Brother Crown Prince, I... I didn't mean it!"
The prince was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer. After thinking for a while, he suddenly felt amused and took her hand: "Okay, I did it on purpose! Remember, this is between the two of us, don't tell your elder brother - don't tell anyone, it's our secret!"
Meiyi nodded seriously, her pure eyes showing tenderness. The prince was stunned and called out softly: "Meiyi! You... you are getting more and more beautiful!"
Meiyi curled her lips: "Brother Crown Prince, wasn't I good-looking before?"
"Looks good... Different. You change when you grow up. It's so strange. I feel like you've changed now. It's like I don't recognize you!"
"Don't scare me! Prince brother, look, I have a gift for you too!"
The prince and Meiyi opened a royal blue cashmere sweater together. Meiyi smiled and said, "I learned to knit sweaters from my mother last year. I was afraid that I wouldn't knit well, so I didn't dare to knit for my brother the prince until this year. The sweater that my brother wore before was knitted by my mother. I hope Meiyi will knit it for you in the future!"
The prince nodded with emotion: "Okay! From now on, Meiyi will knit sweaters for me! I'll take this one!"
"You haven't said whether you like... this color pattern?"
“I like everything that is given by good intentions!”
Ah Heng's voice came from the courtyard: "Where is the Crown Prince?"
"In the house!"
"With whom?"
"And Miss Meiyi!"
"Who else?"
“No more!”
Ah Heng was at the door in a blink of an eye: "Prince! Good intentions!"
The prince appeared in front of him with Meiyi by his hand and asked calmly, "What's the matter? Ah Heng, you just came. Let's go back to the palace!"
"Okay, let's go now."
Ah Heng looked at Meiyi. She looked at him and saw nothing special except that her face was a little redder than usual. He asked in a muffled voice:
"Are you alone? Where are your concubines? Where are the maids?"
"Brother, Meijuan is going to Cen's house today. I'll ask the maids to go to Xifu to ask Sister Meizhen to draw embroidery patterns!"
"Only one person can go. Why don't the other girls follow? It looks like you need to change people in this courtyard!"
The prince glared at him and said, "You are meddling too much. Do you know anything about girls' affairs? Let's go!"
Turning back, he said, "I'm going to start learning how to read memorials and handle state affairs. I'll be very busy starting next month and won't be able to come to see you often. If there's anything, ask your elder brother to tell you. Don't go out without me, just stay home!"
Meiyi looked at him reluctantly: "Brother Crown Prince, I wish I could go see you!"
The prince lowered his eyelids and then raised them again: "Yes! Please ask Madam Hou to take you to the palace to see the Queen, and then you can see me!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)